800-year-old footprint unearthed in Canada

800-year-old footprint unearthed in Canada

www.chinaview.cn 2008-07-23 05:35:04

OTTAWA, July 22 (Xinhua) -- A footprint of 800 years old has been unearthed at one of Canada's top archaeological sites in the western Manitoba Province, scientists announced Tuesday.

The footprint was discovered when archaeologists dug at the site located in the central area of provincial capital Winnipeg. The area has a rich history that includes aboriginal camping, the fur trade, the construction of the railway, waves of immigration and the Industrial Age.

The place has been determined as the future site of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and archaeologists have been scraping away at the site for the basement of the building.

Thousands of artifacts have been uncovered, including pottery and arrowheads, chief archaeologist Sid Kroeker said.

The footprint, found about two meters below the surface, was probably left in the mud around 1200 A.D.. Pieces of pottery and fish remains were found underneath it, he said.

"They stepped down and their foot pressed into the clay, left a footprint and either the ground dried out and hardened, or it froze. The next flood episode that came through put down a slightly different type of sediment, so that the two soils didn't meld together and obliterate it," he said.

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